The night before you want to make your dal, boil the lentils in water for 5 minutes and then discard the water. Soak the lentils overnight if you are using dried. Change the water once while soaking. When you are ready to use the lentils, discard the soak water.

If you are using a pressure cooker to reconstitute the lentils, you can put them in the pressure cooker now. Otherwise, you can hang onto them and add them to the soup later.

Chop the onion, carrots, and celery and add it to a saucepan over medium heat. Cover the saucepan and begin mincing the garlic. Then add the garlic to the saucepan. Occasionally, stir the veggies to distribute the heat and keep them from sticking to the pot.